Almost posted this in GQ, then I realized the primary question might not be factual, anyway, I figured it might be better suited in here. If I’m wrong, apologies in advance, and please fix my error.
Another thing before I begin, I realize the final answer to this will be “Go to the dentist.” However, I avoid the dentist(No offense to you dentists, I’ve never actually had a cruel dentist) not so much like the plague, but slightly more like the Tower of London, so I’d rather just hear some opinions before I just buckle down and do it.
Anyhow, my wisdom teeth have almost entirely emerged, the one the least ‘out’ is my bottom left side, which is about halfway covered with gums still, where as my top right one is pretty much all the way out. I definately haven’t got any continuous pain, although my gums will have days where they’re tender, that sort of thing, but I’ve definately never had anything that lasts a whole day, to my knowledge anyway. What worries me is that they’re all a little bit, maybe a quarter of a tooth width, maybe a third, out to the side, not angled, the tops are still parallel with the rest of my teeth, the right ones are just a little more to the right, and the left a little more to the left.
I was really wondering if this was a problem, they seem to work well enough as they are, I don’t bite my cheek with them, and they don’t seem to be getting on the nerves of the rest of the neighborhood, so I haven’t really done anything about it. Also, if it is a problem, what is it called? I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of anyone having to get thier wisdom teeth removed for any specific reason other than various forms of impaction.
Well, you could wait until they start hurting, but that’s what I did, and I regretted it. I only had one wisdom tooth, but from the time it started hurting until the time I was able to get an appointment to get it yanked was pure hell. It happened over a weekend so I wasn’t able to get an appointment until Monday…it was bad. There isn’t enough Advil in the world to quench that kind of pain.
Heh, Boscibo, I suppose thats a possibility, but I can’t really imagine what they could do now, outside of thrusting themselves in an entirely different direction, to really cause that sort of pain. None of them seem to have much further to move at all, this is sort of what makes it confusing, assuming they don’t do something unexpected relatively soon, like become angled in some direction, I don’t know what sort of problems they could really cause. But I’m definately no dentist, so I have no authority to say what they can and can’t do, which is another reason I should just go to the dentist, but it will make me feel better going if I’ve got some idea of what I’m going in with.
I am about to go under the knife after doing what you have proposed to do, the reality is, I am about to endure hell, or the Devil tap-dancing in my mouth (actually, just about a week or two of intense suffering and the only thing I can look forward to is enough jello to last me a life time). But do whatever you like.
Ok, ok, I’ve gotten the point that I need to go to the dentist, and odds are I will do so regardless, but I’d still like to go in with some sort of idea.
It IS possible that you don’t actually need anything done to them. My wisdom teeth came in straight and painless, and two different dentists said they didn’t need to be removed after studying the teeth and the x-rays. The gums did hurt while they were coming in, but there wasn’t any other pain. Of course, wisdom teeth can look ok and still cause a lot of problems if they’re left in.
So, you know who would be able to take a good look at your teeth and your x-rays and tell you what should be done for sure?
Yeah, I know they can actually be normal and not need to be removed, actually if IIRC my father didn’t need his taken out, I wonder if its genetic, haha.
This is what I get for not previewing posts. It’s probably best for all of us if you just disregard that one, but yeah, my father didn’t need his removed.
IANAD, but IMHO if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I’ve got all my wisdom teeth, and have had them for decades. One had a cavity a long time ago, and the dentist suggested removing the whole tooth since “you might have a problem later.” I told him if I had a problem later, I’d deal with it then. I’ve had no further cavities.
If the only pain you’re experiencing is the coming through the gums part, my advise as a non-medical expert would be to wait until that’s done.
The main thing is that these teeth are hard to clean. You’ve gotta be sure to reach the ol’ toothbrush waaaaaay back there. And of course in some people the teeth themselves crowd up the other teeth. One of my kids had to have all her w.t. extracted for that reason.
As a side note, my spouse and other child have no problems with w.t. – they don’t have any! None at all. Some folks get all the luck!
I regularly go to the dentist, and three of my wisdom teeth have come up through. My gums hurt when they came up, but now nothing hurts. After getting x-rays, my dentist says it’s fine if I don’t want them removed. Although he seems pretty convinced that I’m going to get a cavity and they’ll have to removed anyway. :rolleyes: At any rate, definitely get them x-rayed, because even if nothing hurts, you have to make sure they won’t mess up the rest of your teeth.
I had all four of my wisdom teeth removed. Only had terrible problems with one before it was actually pulled, but those problems included an allegic reaction to the sulfa drug I was taking for the pain. I ended up in the hospital hooked up to a morphine drip the night before I was to get the tooth pulled.
Anyhoo, my teeth are terrible. For some reason they are deficient in calcium and very soft. I’m at the point where there’s almost not enough actual tooth left (in relation to fillings) to get any more fillings. I remember returning from one checkup while in high-school with the news that I had twelve new cavities.
I have three appointments in the next couple of weeks. (I missed one this past week due to a migraine.) I’ll now be getting all four of the back molars removed. The dentist suggested filling them one more time, but what’s the point. And extractions are the only thing I’m covered for.
Besides how soft my teeth are, they are really close together. My dentist should have removed a few of my teeth when I was young to allow them to space out. In some places, dental floss has been known to get jammed. Most all my cavities have been between my teeth, which means whenever I have one, I usually have two - one for each tooth.
I hate my teeth! If I ever became a millionaire, that would be the first expensive thing I’d do for myself. Have all my teeth basically replaced. (I’ve joked with my grandfather about getting him to carve me a new set out of wood. If I had been born with wooden teeth, they would have lasted better than the real ones I have.)
Some people actually have enough room for their wisdom teeth. I am one of those people (yup, I gotta big mouth).
So fine and dandy, my wisdom teeth came in, one was a little crooked, no biggie.
Now, I asked my dentist to yank 'em.
Why would I do that, you may ask?
Well, while there was plenty of room for the teeth, there was no room to clean them. Stuff was getting stuck to them too cause there wasn’t a whole lot of room back there for chewed up food to move over for swallowing. Eventually, they would’ve started rotting in my face.
The other problem can be that, like my one slightly crooked tooth, while it was most of the way out, it wasn’t all the way out, and the shape of my gums covering it made it a higher risk for getting a cavity below the gum line.
The good news, the further out your wisdom teeth are, the easier they are to yank out (requires less cutting.) Mine all just popped right out.
